From the edition of 59. One of six prints from the Sanctum series, published by Paragon Press, London. Signed by the artist and numbered on the reverse. Created in 2009, Belfry belongs to Damien Hirst’s Sanctum series, which comprises six photogravure etchings titled Altar, Belfry, Chancel, Dome, Minaret and Spire. Their architectural names establish a connection between the imagery of butterflies and spaces associated with worship and contemplation. Printed on heavyweight Vélin d’Arches paper, the work translates the intricate detail of natural forms into an ordered, kaleidoscopic composition. Repeated butterfly-wing imagery gathers into an elaborate arrangement whose symmetry recalls the tracery of a Gothic rose window. Seen from a distance, the individual forms coalesce into an ornamental whole; closer inspection restores their identity as fragments of living creatures. This movement between abstraction and recognition gives the image its particular tension, allowing decorative beauty and an awareness of mortality to occupy the same surface. Within Hirst’s practice, the butterfly offers a meeting point between natural history and spiritual symbolism. Its transformation and brief lifespan invite associations with renewal and transience, while the preservation of its appearance raises questions about the relationship between beauty and death. Here, photogravure introduces a further distinction: the viewer encounters printed representations of the wings rather than the organic material itself, extending their visual presence through the reproductive possibilities of printmaking. The title Belfry, referring to the part of a building that houses its bells, encourages an architectural reading without making the composition a literal depiction of a religious structure. Instead, Hirst draws upon the associations of sacred ornament: repetition, symmetry and colour become means of suggesting order and transcendence. The work may therefore be understood as both an image of visual harmony and a meditation upon the fragile natural forms from which that harmony is constructed. A detailed condition report is available upon request.